Lots to unpack here. Before we do that, a reminder that you can register to vote in 2 minutes with DoSomething and request your absentee ballot here.
There is a major myth that voting by mail is less secure than voting in person. Mail-in voting has received a lot of attention these past few years because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but the truth is that it has been around for a long time.
Absentee voting goes as far back as the Civil War, and no-excuse absentee voting (voting by absentee even if you are physically available on Election Day, just for the convenience of it) has been a thing for about 40 years now. Even prior to this election, every state offers some form of vote-by-mail, whether for an approved excuse or just convenience. Because states have been doing this for a while, they have A LOT of measures in place to make sure that mail ballots are secure and that election integrity is maintained. Here are some examples, sourced from the Brennan Center for Justice:
Verifying identity: Voters must provide their personal information and signature, which election officials match against voter rolls.
Bar codes: Some states assign barcodes to each ballot, making it easier for officials to track ballots and identify duplicates. Voters can also use them to make sure their ballots have been received.
Secure drop-off locations: Some voters opt to drop-off their ballots in a designated location prior to Election Day, and states take steps to make them as secure as possible. Drop boxes are constructed to be tamper-proof, and they’re often supervised by election officials or equipped with security cameras.
Penalties: States discourage voter fraud (which is a federal crime) by enacting their own criminal and civil penalties in addition to the hefty fines and prison sentences available under federal law.